That Which is Left Unsaid
by Mist123
Summary: Are you coming Sky?" It was a simple question. Stay and get revenge or move on. Only her past could decide what she'd do. Minor ZackxOc Mention of SephxOC Rated T for swearing!


**Let this be a sign that I am not dead! I will be continuing writing very soon but I don't have a lot of time and my muse had decided to go galavanting over to stories about Aqualad, Okami, and Portgas D Ace…Plus I've got papers to write for college…**

**If you find any problems please tell me. Or if you like the characters tell me 'cause I only own Zen. Sky belongs to Wallflower Aerith aka Rika-chan. We may go into a colab on this if I can get the time…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any part of FF7. I do not own Sky Eris for all her funness I had playing with her…I'm so evil…I do own Zen Hoshino so ask the proper people if you want to use them! **

* * *

She was dying.

She was dying and it was in an utterly pathetic way. Why couldn't she go out properly? Why couldn't she gain revenge for the ones she had lost?

This was not the way for a former SOLDIER to die!

The sunlight currently burning her face was a pain in the ass too. Sticky strands of red-brown hair clung to her neck, sweat and blood mixing with dirt to form an uncomfortable paste. She was pretty sure there was a Cactuar on her back doing some sort of folk dance too. It brought back all those old memories of training in SOLDIER, landing flat on her back every damn time **he **flashed one of those smiles just before cracking her in the head.

Had it really been four years?

She could almost see him now, dark clothes covering his body, black hair wildly spiked, Mako blue eyes…

"…Zack?..."

"_Are you coming Sky?_"

**..:~:..**

She had been fifteen at the time, right? It seemed like it had been much longer than that. Making it into SOLDIER without anyone realizing she was a girl was the difficult part, but with a little help from her friend Cloud (more like bullying him into taking her physical exam) she had made it. She could remember standing in the ranks watching as the higher ups pranced before them, Director Lazard giving some speech on the importance of their work, General Sephiroth congratulating them on making it into the program, and then he came running in.

The superiors had all given him exasperated looks, especially his mentor Angeal. There was a slight chuckle from Colonel Hoshino standing to Sephiroth's left, a small woman with chin length pale blond hair and glowing purple eyes who seemed to be the only person with a sense of humor. She was quick to calm the others down and get the newcomer in his proper place, before stepping before the new recruits and giving them their first orders.

Training.

Training with the Second Class SOLDIER's, the Creta were surely laughing at these poor souls. She allowed the latecomer to introduce himself, Zack Fair SOLDIER Second Class and the man they would be fighting while the Colonel observed to decide what infantry they would be put into. The other higher ups were quick to make their excuses and leave.

Recruit after recruit had stepped up and been subsequently thrown into a wall, or into some other unlucky recruit and she was no exception. Flying through the air and landing on Cloud with a pained grunt was not something she ever wanted to experience ever again. What was more impressive was that he didn't even break a sweat the whole time.

"Is this all you've got?"

The Colonel let out a chuckle at her subordinate's comment, "don't be mean Zack they are brand new."

"Aw, but Colonel Zen I didn't even break a sweat!"

"If that's the case Zack, would you like to spar against me?"

The SOLDIER Second Class took a step back and rubbed the back of his head, oblivious to the fact that all the Third Classes were staring at the interaction between their superiors. "It's okay; I don't have that much of a death wish." The blond nodded and dismissed the new recruits telling them to rest up and be prepared for tomorrow. What the hidden female wasn't expecting was to be stopped on her way out.

"Remiel-kun, a moment please."

The female froze along with her friend: had they figured out her identity? Could one of the doctors have made note of the fact that someone fitting Cloud's description seemingly took the physical exam twice? She looked over at her childhood friend, if she left what would he do without her? He liked to pretend to be tough, but if it weren't for the older girl he probably would have done something to garner the irritation of their superiors' by now.

Thankful for their helmets Sky gave Cloud a reassuring smile, confident that she hadn't been caught just yet and motioning for him to go on without him. Once he had walked out the door she slowly made her way over to the two SOLDIER's. Zack was in the middle of the room performing squats as the Colonel looked over the notes she had taken. When she had drawn even with the violet eyed First Class the Colonel looked up and flashed her a smile.

"What is your first name Remiel-kun?"

"Sven, ma'am."

The woman made a little mark on her clipboard and tut'd to herself before nodding. "Sven-kun, you showed great promise today, with a little training you could climb to First Class very quickly."

"R-really?"

"Hmm, yes, but you are going to have to put a lot of effort into your training. Am I understood?"

The girl snapped into a smart salute and gave a quick "ma'am" and then scurried out of the room to join Cloud on their way back to their barracks. The two higher classed SOLDIER's watched the disguised girl retreat before gathering all the files they had used for their first tests and walking to Director Lazard's office.

"So Zack-kun, what's this I hear about you gluing Angeal's phone to his desk?"

The Second Class winced, if the Colonel knew about that then he would be in serious trouble. Their phones were specially designed so that they could get a signal just about anywhere and it was incredibly hard to make them. Gluing Angeal's phone to his desk had been a joke because the man had seemed so wound up the past few weeks, but instead it had seemingly set off several events that would lead him to a punishment he really wouldn't like.

Zack stood sheepishly behind the blond as she presented her first impressions of the new recruits and tried not to loose track of what they were saying. He still found it hard to concentrate when it didn't directly involve him or a mission. So when he heard Lazard mention his name he was unsurprisingly caught off guard.

"Colonel Hitokiri, in the matter of punishment for SOLDIER Second Class Zack Fair: have you come up with a suitable way to deal with him?"

The Colonel let a clever smirk cross her lips before it was quickly replaced by a much more demure smile that could only spell his doom. The other men at the table cast their eyes between the woman and the subordinate knowing full well that smile was the one she had used many a time just before she obliterated her opponent.

"In that matter, Lazard-dono, I recommend that Zack be given someone to be responsible for, a protégé if you would like to call it that."

The young SOLDIER nearly fell over at his superiors words, and from the look of it the others were in the same opinion.

"It is my opinion that if Zack is given the responsibility of training one of the new recruits he will understand our need for him to follow the orders he is given. What's more it will give us the chance to see if he is ready to assume the position of SOLDIER First Class."

Director Lazard linked his fingers and looked at the woman over them, hiding the growing smirk forming on his lips. "And who do propose? I assume that you would not suggest this unless you had someone in mind."

"But we've only just seen the new recruits today! She couldn't have possibly found someone already!" An icy silence covered the room after Zack's outburst, he realized his mistake immediately and stepped away from the older SOLDIER in hopes of having some kind of chance to avoid any attack she could throw. Instead the woman continued to smile gently as if nothing had happened.

"Director Lazard, the person I wish to propose is SOLDIER Third Class Sven Remiel."

"Done."

**..:~:..**

"You have to be quicker than that!"

Sky jumped at the exclamation, barely dodging the fist going straight for her nose. If Zack actually made contact she would most likely end up in the medic ward, again. It wasn't as if she hadn't gotten better, but he was ridiculously strong and fast, almost to the point that it was hard to believe that he was human. It also didn't help that just before he attacked he'd flash a smile that made her forget what she was supposed to be doing.

'_No! Bad thoughts! Very bad thoughts! Can't let him think that I'm that weird!'_

"Sven!" A hard kick landed right between her shoulders forcing the disguised girl to the ground with a gasp and a crunch. Her mentor kneeled down and patted her back as she attempted to get her breath back. He actually did feel guilty, after all, this guy wasn't the buffest SOLDIER recruit and Zack wasn't exactly pulling his punches.

Sky made note to thank whoever had made the sweaters of their uniforms so thick because it did a bang up job of hiding the fact that she was wearing a bra from her mentor's gentle pats.

"I hope I didn't break anything…Maybe we should go to the med-ward and have you checked out."

The disguised girl leaped to her feet and stuttered out an, "I'm alright, really," before falling back to the ground in pain. The older SOLDIER shook his head and pulled out a cure materia letting the magic flow through him and to the younger SOLDIER. Once they were sure that she wasn't going to fall over when she stood the elder slung his arm around the younger and proceeded to drag her toward the lunch hall.

Sky was very happy that he wasn't the most observant person, or she'd probably have a hard time explaining why the tips of her ears were red.

The two were alone for lunch, which happened quite a lot considering he often lost track of the time while training her. They sat at a table and began to eat, occasionally making some comment or another on their training or upcoming missions. But it wasn't long before Zack began to loose interest in what they were talking about and started on his favorite subject.

"I still have to take you to meet Aerith don't I?"

Sky let out a silent sigh, not a day went by when the man didn't mention his girlfriend. By now Sky had a pretty good image of her, Zack did have a tendency to describe her to every last detail, so if she ever had to find the girl she'd have no trouble. It was a shame though, for all she did he never seemed to notice her, granted, if he ever found out she was a girl she'd be out of SOLDIER so fast she'd probably be left in Nibelheim before she could say Mako.

"Zack, I think you've just about bored you apprentice to sleep."

Both SOLDIER's snapped to attention at the sound of Sephiroth's voice. The general had snuck up on the two without making a sound, it seemed to be a secret talent of his that he took great delight in using to terrorize the younger SOLDIERs with. Zack greeted the superior and moved over so that the taller man could take a seat with the two, since the death of Angeal he had been spending more time with Zack who had been promoted to SOLDIER First Class while she had managed to climb to Second.

Sky remained quiet as the two men began to discuss a mission that several other people had been sent on. They hadn't reported back yet and had been gone for nearly three weeks, a bad sign by any standards. Zack had proposed sending out another team to find them but Director Lazard had denied his request saying it was too dangerous to send any more people out there. What was even more distressing was that Colonel Zen had been a part of the group, and as one of the few close friends of Sephiroth's that was still alive and in SOLDIER it made finding her all the more important.

"I'm sure Zen is fine Sephiroth. It's not like this is the first time a mission has gone amiss."

The General made a noise of consent but still looked thoroughly troubled. With a heavy sigh he excused himself and walked toward the offices leaving the other two to wonder over what he was going to do.

"He seems awfully concerned."

"Not all that surprising really…"

" 'Cause she's one of his few close friends?"

"Hmm? You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"They're lovers."

"Bullshit!"

Zack let out a gentle laugh and ruffled her hair, "It's true! They've always been close but only a very select few know that their together. Welcome to the club!"

"I don't see it."

"No one ever sees it, but if you watch them when their together you'll notice little things that they do that could be considered accidental but are really on purpose.

"Right…"

Zack laughed again and finished off his lunch before standing and motioning for her to follow. "So are you ready for sword practice?" Behind him a tired groan escaped his apprentice bringing an even bigger smile to his face.

…**:~:…**

What first brought her out of her state of unconsciousness was the yelling. Somewhere nearby someone was yelling at her to get up, but she couldn't. Her legs felt like they'd been cut off or made with iron, and so did her arms. The next thing she noticed was that her helmet had been knocked off her head and was lying in the underbrush nearby. The sounds of swords meeting each other came from somewhere to her right, but she just couldn't get enough energy to turn her head and look. All at once a great explosion erupted from the area of the fight and a wave of heat washed over her, telling her that someone had preformed a summoning. But still it was all too much and she slipped back into unconsciousness, forgetting about the mission, about the two men who were hopefully still alive, about everything but the blessed darkness that erased her pain.

…**:~:…**

"Sven-kun I need you to open your eyes for me…"

The pain was back again, making her realize that she was not dead and that somehow she had been moved so that she was sitting somewhere unpleasantly cool with her back against something hard and wet. When the girl opened her eyes she met the concerned violet gaze of her missing Colonel and the sight of Zack and Sephiroth standing at the mouth of a cave watching with equally anxious eyes.

"It's good to see you awake Sven-kun, but I'm going to have to cut off your shirt to see the damage you were given. It's going to hurt a bit because the blood has dried around the wound, alright?"

Vaguely Sky could feel herself nodding, more concerned with getting healed than with the fact that her secret was about to be blown. The older woman produced one of the knives she kept hidden on her at all times and made quick work of cutting the shirt down the middle, showing both the wound and the bandages Sky had used bind her breasts.

"Oh my…"

"What is it?" Sephiroth asked from the mouth of the cave.

"Sehpiroth-koi, Zack-kun, would you turn your backs to us please?"

"What? Why? What's wrong with Sven?" Zack asked making to step toward the two females.

"The wound isn't as bad as I thought but I will still need to wash it. What I'm more concerned about is the fact that I'm certain Sven-chan wouldn't like to flash you at the moment."

"Flash us? But you've only cut his shirt…oh….."

Both men turned away from the two as Zen brought out several potions and proceeded to wash Sky's wounds with them. Sky let out a groan of pain as the elder quickly worked to get rid of the blood so she could see the wound properly.

"Would you mind telling us your real name?"

"Sky…Eris Sky…"

"Well Sky-kun it's very nice to meet you."

"Colonel…"

"Yes?"

"You're really weird."

"Mmm, I get told that quite a lot actually."

The two female SOLDIER's began to laugh as the men stayed with their backs to them. Zen finished cleaning the wound and handed the girl an x-potion to drink as she began to work on bandaging and disinfecting the lesser wounds. Once done the First Class reached into her bag and pulled out an extra sweater for the girl to wear in place of her now destroyed one. Zack and Sephiroth came to join them once Zen had officially declared it safe for them to turn around.

Both men stared at the now revealed girl as if trying to decide what to say, luckily Zen once again played the act as negotiator and recommended that they keep it a secret between the four of them, because, really Sky was a fine SOLDIER and why should she have to leave just because she was a girl? Not for the first time Sky wondered if maybe Zen was the actual leader of SOLDIER instead of Lazard or Sephiroth, she seemed to have more influence over everyone than either of the men said to be in charge.

Zack's communicator began to ring and with a heavy sigh of relief he picked it up and got the orders for where they would be picked up. The four fighters immediately packed up and began to make their way to the meeting spot, happy to have survived and in Sky's case happy to still be a part of SOLDIER.

…**:~:…**

"How DARE you!"

"Colonel Hoshino I know this news comes as a surprise but you must accept it."

"He would NEVER do such a thing!"

Sky winced at the sound of Zen's raised voice. Of all the people to get into a shouting match with Director Lazard she had never expected it to be her. On the other hand she understood her anger. With the attack on Nibelheim both women were under a great amount of stress and sadness. They'd both lost men they loved that day and now they were being ordered to cover up the entire thing without investigating the reason behind it.

"Colonel Zen maybe we should leave."

"Not now Sven-kun."

Sky winced and backed up expecting to see her Colonel's eyes turn crimson at any moment. She did not want to be caught with the Demon's Gaze, last time she'd seen her use it Zen had taken out a platoon of men with the technique. Lazard remained unfazed as even though he knew what both women were capable of.

"With Sephiroth gone it is now your duty to lead SOLDIER, I expect both of you to do your duties as I order them. Am I understood?"

Zen slammed her hands on the desk, red began to seep into her vision and the veins around her eyes began to stand out in contrast to the rest of her skin. Lazard raised a single eyebrow at the woman's actions but remained silent. His orders were clear, get out and do your duties or I will have you removed. The Colonel sent one last glare at him and then turned on her heel marching out the door with Sky close behind. The two retreated toward Zen's private office and slammed the door behind them, startling Reno to the point he decided it would be better to talk to them another day.

"So what do we do now?"

"We wait Sky-kun. Bide our time. Find out as much as possible without the Director knowing."

"Do you really think he did it?"

Mako infused violet eyes met equally bright hazel ones and the answer was there. Yes, she did think he had done it, but not without reason. There had to be a reason behind his madness, if Zack and Cloud had survived they would have known, but even they hadn't made it. Recovery teams hadn't been able to find their bodies, or so they'd been told.

Sky turned back to the door having made her decision, she had to go tell someone this news. She paused at the door when Zen spoke.

"Are you going to her?"

"Yeah."

"Good luck."

…**:~:…**

The church was surprisingly small when she finally found it. Then again being a part of ShinRa didn't exactly put you around small buildings all that often. But the way Zack had described it she had imagined something a bit bigger.

The door opened soundlessly when she pushed against it. Someone obviously took good care of this place. Inside was just as plain as the outside, the only odd feature being the flowers in the middle of the room. Sky approached them cautiously knowing from the many tales Zack had told how protective the girl was of them. Looking around she couldn't find the girl who was supposed to be there but she knew that there wouldn't be too long of a wait before she'd show up.

Almost on cue a girl about the same age as Sky walked in wearing a white dress and a pink bow in her brown locks. She paused at the sight of Sky, not surprising considering her sudden promotion to SOLDIER First Class after the attack at Nibelheim. Aerith stared for a moment longer and then approached Sky, wary of what she was doing there when Zack was usually the only person to come to the church.

"Are you Aerith?"

The flower seller stopped at the question and took in Sky's appearance. Even with the different uniform she could tell that this was the girl that Zack had been training: the one who had hidden her identity to join SOLDIER.

"Are you Sky?"

"Yeah," the female SOLDIER shuffled a bit and looked back toward the flowers as if they would have all the answers for her.

"Where's Zack?"

"He's…gone…"

"Gone?"

"He died."

Much to Sky's surprise Aerith started to laugh.

"What's so funny!?"

Aerith straightened from her doubled over position and whipped her eyes of the tears forming there.

"You don't have much faith in him do you?"

"_What?!" _

"He isn't dead."

"That isn't funny!"

"But he isn't. He would have come and spoken to me."

A heavy sigh escaped Sky's lips. Here she was trying to do the right thing and tell this girl that Zack had died and she was rambling about him not being dead. It was just too much. With another sigh Sky let her body flop to the floor and buried her face in her hands. A gentle hand on her back made her look up into Aerith's clear green eyes, the older girl gave a reassuring smile and gently rubbed her back.

"He isn't dead. Both you and I know he wouldn't die that easily. And neither would your friend."

A single tear escaped Sky's eye but it was ignored. She knew, this girl knew what Sky herself felt. There was no way Zack would have died that easily and he and Cloud would return soon.

"Tell you what. Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure…What is it?"

Aerith presented Sky with a white envelope and made sure she had a firm grip on it before she let go.

"Give this to Zack for me alright? I get the feeling if he shows up you'll be the first to know."

"Alright."

…**:~:…**

'_I'm sorry Aerith. I'll never be able to give Zack those letters…__'_

"_Not yet Sky, not yet." _

'_But Zack!" _

_He laughed, and ruffled her hair. And then she slowly started to feel again. _

"S…un?...ky….n?...Sky-kun? Wake up Sky-kun!"

Blessed relief washed over Sky as a Curaga spell traveled over her body. Slowly her wounds began to close and it became easier to breath. Opening her eyes Sky saw that she had been rolled onto her back and a familiar blond hovered above casting the spell. Sighing in relief Sky let the former Colonel concentrate on what she was doing.

"Well it's certainly been a long time since I last saw you Sky-kun."

"Almost three years. You didn't have those sunglasses the last time we met."

"Ah, these," the blond asked touching the rim with a free hand while sitting back on her heels, "these are 'cause I'm going blind."

Sky sat up quickly, startled by the revelation. She had known that Zen's special technique damaged her eyes but she hadn't known it would come down to that. Zen flashed her a smile and helped the young woman to her feet and motioning towards the black Chocobo grazing a few feet away.

"I've got a proposition for you Sky-kun."

Zen mounted the bird and offered a hand down to Sky to help the injured girl on.

"What is it?"

"How'd you like to help me fight Shin-Ra and any other baddies who think it's okay to play with innocent lives and ruin the world?"

Sky began to laugh. It was just like the former Colonel to do something along these lines and completely out of the blue.

"I'll do it."

"Very good! Now if you'll be so kind as to equip that blizzard materia and freeze those Turks coming towards us we can be on our way."

"Is that Reno in the lead?"

"I think so."

"So what are we called?" Sky asked while slipping the materia into a spare slot on her arm guard.

"BREAZE."

"Fitting." A blast of ice shot from her hand and froze a good twenty meters of ground in front of the Turks. From their position they were able to see Reno's feet slip out from under him and send him crashing into his partner. The other Turks faired just as well and in a matter of seconds they were on the ground and the Chocobo was sprinting away at a marvelous speed.

"How did you find me?" Sky yelled over the rushing wind as they plowed their way toward the cliffs that made up part of the terrain. Sky kept a tight grip on the reigns and made sure they were going the right way before responding.

"I had a dream!"

"And?"

"Angeal came and told me you need help, so I came!"

"How is that possible?"

"You tell me! When I arrived I saw what looked to be Zack's spirit kneeling next to you and then when I came to your side he was gone!"

Sky felt her voice catch in her throat, he was still looking out for her. If it was the last thing she ever did she'd get revenge for him.

"Sky-kun!"

"Y-yeah?"

"We'll make them pay! They can't get away with taking away the ones we loved and not pay for it! I swear!"

"Thank you!"

"Anytime!"

* * *

**This is an early birthday present for Rika-chan! ****It's also a commission in trade for a couple of pictures she's doing for me…**

**Go check her out at ****Wallflower Aerith here**

**.net/u/1417317/Wallflower_Aerith**

**Or on Deviantart at**

**.com/**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY Rika-chan!!!!**

**Lots of candy, puppies, kitties, and luffs from Mist123! **


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